Board walk.



No. 673,558. Patented May 7, I90l.

A D. R. KLINE.

v BOARD WALK. (Application filed Nov. 22, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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PATENT DAVID R. KLINE, OF DAVENPORT, IOWA.

BOARD WALK.

srEcIFIcA'rmN formingpart of Letters Patent No. 673,558, dated May '7,1901.

Application filed November 22, 1900. $eria1 No. 37,387. (No modelh T0aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, DAVID R. KLINE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, haveinvented a new and useful Board Walk, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to board walks and similar platform structuresfor bridges and the like, and has for its object to facilitate thefastening of the flooring to the frame structure, so as to preventWarping thereof and to obviate the use of nails, which soon projectabove the flooring, to the annoyance and danger of people and animalspassing over the device. It is furthermore designed to protect the outerends of the floor-plan ks, so as to prevent the same from being brokenand chipped, and also to protect said ends of the planks from thedamaging effects of the Weather.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists inthe combination and arrangement of parts, as will be herein-' after morefully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularlypointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes inthe form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within thescope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing anyof the advantages of the invention.

, In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a section of aboard walk, bridge platform, or the like constructed in accordance withthe present invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional viewthereof.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in bothfigures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates suitable cross-sills, of wood orother material, which form a suitable foundation for the support of aboard walk. The opposite longitudinal frame-beams 2, of metal, havingthe top and bottom laterally-projecting and longitudinally-extendingflanges 3 and 4:, are placed transversely across the ends, of thefoundation-sills and may be connected thereto by any suitable fasteningspassing through the foot-flanges of the beams. Although I have shownbeams with flanges at one side only, ordinary I-beams may be usedwhenever desired. The adjacent ends of opposite beamsections areconnected by means of opposite fish-plates 5, which extend across thejoints and are secured to the webs of the beams by means of suitablebolts 6. It will be understood that a plurality of these frame-beams areplaced end to end, according to the length of the platform. In the eventof a wide platform one or more intermediate beams '7 may be employed,the opposite ends of the beamsections being connected as described forthe outer beam-sections.

The flooringplanks 8 are placed transversely across the frame beams andhave their outer ends flush with the outer edges of the outer beams. Theupper face of each plank is rabbeted at its outer ends for the receptionof the upper side of a substantially U-shaped metallic marginal edgestrip 9 and in order that said strip may be flush with the upper face ofthe flooring. It will be understood that each edge of the flooring isprovided with such a strip, and the latter is made in sections withtheir ends abutted, so as to extend for the entire length of theplatform. Each strip snugly embraces the adjacent ends of the planks andthe upper flange portion of the adjacent frame-beam and is securedthereto by means of bolts 10, which extend through the planks, theflange of the beam, and the opposite sides of the U-shaped strip. Thesides of each strip are preferably of the same width, and the free edgeof the lower side abuts snugly against the web portion of theframe-beam. The intermediate portions of some of the planks may besecured to the intermediate beam by means of suitable bolts 11. It ispreferable to employ bolts secured to metallic beams, as the formercannot be drawn outwardly by expansion and contraction of the planks,and thereby do not present dangerous projections. is designed to employbolts having convex heads, which latter do not afford the sameobjections as do angular heads.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that no nails areemployed in the construction'of the present form of walk or platform,and the planks are conveniently and effectively held in place andprevented from warping by means of the strips embracing the oppositeends thereof; also, compara- Moreover, it

tively few fastenings are employed to secure the planks t0 the beams, asit does not require a fastening for each plank, the fastenin gs beingdistributed at suitable intervals to properly secure the binding-strips;Any of the planks may be conveniently replaced by removing the oppositebinding-strips that secure the plank, and the entire structure may bequickly set up Without requiring the employment of skilled labor andespecially-constructed tools.

What is claimed is 1. In a board walk or similar platform structure, thecombination with oppositely flanged frame-beams, of planks supportedtransversely thereon, and opposite bindingstrips embracing therespective ends of the planks and the flanges 0f the beams, and alsosecuring the planks to the beams.

2. In a board walk or similar platform structure, the combination withoppositelyflanged longitudinal frame beams, of floorplanks supportedtransversely thereon and having their opposite ends flush with the outeredges of the respective beam-flanges, 0p posite substantially U-shapedmetallic strips snugly embracing the respective ends of the planks andthe beam-flanges, and bolts passing through the opposite sides of thestrip, the planks and the beam-flanges.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses,

DAVID R. KLINE. \Vitnesses:

J. F. CHEEK, M. T. GREEK.

